


A Word a Day Keeps Hawk Moth Away

by Potatoe_Knight



Series: Miraculous Word of the Day (Disconnected stories) [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Accidental Identity Reveal, Because I don't know what else to put, Gen, I'll add some later, Identity Reveal, Puppeteer 2 Spoilers, Spoilers, one word prompt, that's all for now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-07-19 02:56:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19966888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potatoe_Knight/pseuds/Potatoe_Knight
Summary: WARNING: Starts off after Puppeteer 2Chat Noir was out on the roofs where he overheard something he shouldn't have.That's all I have for now, because I'm literally writing this daily, based off of one-word prompts from M-W's Word of the Day. The direction that it will go depends on the words.





	1. Hapless

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone's interested in seeing what the M-W's Word of the day is (or holding me to doing the right one), here it is:  
> https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir overhears something that he shouldn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've toyed around with this general idea for a while, of making a fanfic based off of the word-of-the-day. I finally started because this word worked really well, and I couldn't just let it pass by.

24.07.2019

hapless 

_adjective_ | HAP-lus

: having no luck : unfortunate

"Ugh… why do I have to be so _hapless?"_

Chat Noir paused at hearing someone speak. He had simply been up on the rooftop unwinding from the confusing day. He hadn't been expecting to hear or see anyone.

But he wasn't going to eavesdrop. Chat would go see who it was… once they spoke again. He didn't know what direction it came from.

"I wish I could've admitted that it all was true."

Chat whipped his head around to see who had spoken. He saw his classmate, Marinette, up on her balcony. Strange. Was she talking to herself? She didn't really seem the sort to do that sort of thing.

Chat approached her balcony, though Marinette didn't seem to notice. She just continued talking to herself. "Why can't I just confess to Adrien that I love him?"

Chat paused where he stood. Everything that she had said earlier was _true._ And _he_ had stupidly, almost unthinking, told her that she was like the girl he loved.

He wouldn't blame her for not wanting to be his friend now. Maybe he should leave now.

While Chat was debating what to do next, the _last_ thing he expected was for someone _else_ to talk back to her.

"Well, Marinette," a high-pitched voice responded. "I'm sure that you can tell him _some_ day. Maybe even tomorrow!"

Where had that voice _come_ from. Chat searched frantically with his eyes.

"You're right, Tikki," Marinette said. "Tomorrow's a new day!"

It was only when the creature laughed that his eyes landed on the small bright red, maybe even hot pink, kwami.

Well. This situation certainly was more hapless for him than Marinette. Chat Noir knew he had seen something that he shouldn't have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Marichat being only my third favorite side of the lovesquare, I sure have been writing it a lot lately. Like, a LOT.  
> That comes up because it seems to be the direction that


	2. Undergird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinettte and Chat try to figure out what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun DUNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!  
> I don't know, I just really wanted to do that.  
> The word for today was a little more difficult to implement, and is definitely used more abstractly.

25.07.2019

undergird

_ verb  _ | un-der-GERD

1  _ archaic _ : to make secure underneath

2 : to form the basis or foundation of : strengthen, support

“You’re right, Tikki,” Marinette said. “Tomorrow’s a new day!” With that bit of support and confidence, Marinette turned around, ready to go back down to her room.

Only, once she  _ did _ turn around, she saw a frozen Chat Noir, and froze to match. This did not bode well. Just  _ how _ much had he seen?

The silence was just starting to get awkward when Chat broke it. “...Ladybug?”

Yup. He had seen her talking to Tikki.

How should she even  _ react _ in this situation. Marinette wanted to try to deny it in an almost assuredly futile effort. But she also wanted to berate Chat for discovering it. Then again, it would be nice to not have to worry about his learning her identity, since he already  _ knew _ it.

Luckily, she didn’t need to react, because Chat beat her to it again. “I didn’t mean to, mi-ARINETTE! I swear, I was just out on the rooftops and happened to overhear! I respect that you always want to keep our identities separate, so-”

Marinette stopped his rambling by placing a finger on his lips. He gazed at her, starry-eyed. Great. Was he going to treat Marinette the same way he treated Ladybug now?

“You definitely know, so I’m not even going to try to deny it, kitty. But let’s go into my room and talk to Tikki about it, in order to decide what to do. Okay?”

* * *

Marinette- who was also Ladybug- took a deep breath once they had gotten down into her room. How the  _ heck _ was she able to intimidate Chat so easily? He had never noticed how scary his friend could be before.

“So we need to decide  _ what, _ if anything, we should do.” Marinette then proceeded to bore her eyes into Chat as if she expected  _ him _ to have the answer.

After a tense moment he simply shrugged. “ _ You’re _ the planner.”

She sighed. “Unfortunately, you’re right. I guess what we need to do is take stock of the situation.” Marinette started counting everything on her fingers. “You know that I’m Ladybug. I still don’t know your identity. Master Fu knows nothing about this.”

“Should we tell him?” Chat asked.

Marinette bit her lip, unsure and looked to Tikki.

The kwami shrugged. “It can go either way. I’d say you’re fine for now, as long as nothing dangerous comes up from Chat knowing your identity.”

Marinette nodded contemplatively. Then she gave Chat a hard look. “Better not get akumatized now.”

He indignantly crossed his arms. “I’ll have you know that so far, I’ve been successful in avoiding that altogether.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever, kitty. We still need to take precautions to be safe. That was the reason I didn’t want to reveal our identities in the first place. I wish we could just go back to you not knowing.”

“Too bad I can’t,” Chat agreed. He  _ finally _ understood why she hadn’t wanted to reveal identities.

Now that it was useless.

But as long as they continued building their partnership- like they had from the ground up- he was certain that they could take on the world. All they needed was to undergird their partnership with a bit more trust.

“Actually,” Tikki spoke up, breaking the brief silence, “there might still be a way to do that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look... it's starting to actually take a life of its own.  
> I have an idea what to do tomorrow, but we'll see what the word of the day is tomorrow.


	3. Motley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A reveal... sort of? Fluff. Definitely fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Let's see what the word of the day is.  
> M-W: Motley.  
> Me: This doesn't work at all with what I have in mind.

26.07.2019

motley

_ adjective  _ | MAHT-lee

1 : variegated in color

2 : made up of many different people or things

“Actually,” Tikki spoke up, “there might still be a way to do that.”

Marinette stared at her kwami. “How?”

“Do you remember Oblivio?”

She groaned. “How could I  _ forget? _ ”

Chat seemed to catch onto something. “Ah! Exactly. We  _ did. _ Twice, in fact. Once because of the akuma, and once from the Miraculous Cure.”

Oh.  _ Ohhh. _ Marinette glanced at Tikki to confirm. “So you’re saying that if we use the Miraculous Cure, Chat will forget everything?”

Tikki nodded. “Not just Chat, though. You will as well.”

Marinette took a deep breath, looking at Chat. “Sorry, kitty, but we really should do this.” He had always wanted to reveal their identities, so he would probably be upset.

She was  _ not _ expecting him to simply shrug. “I… I understand exactly why, now. For our safety. Though, would it be too much to ask for an hour to talk?”

It was difficult to tell with the small kwami, but it seemed to shrug. “I can work with it, whether it happened ten minutes ago or an hour.”

Chat looked at Marinette, waiting for her to give her input. “I’m not  _ opposed _ to the idea, but what’s the use of it if we’re going to forget in an hour anyway?”

“What’s the harm in it?” he countered.

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Fine. Might as well use the opportunity to divulge  _ all _ of our secrets.”

Chat raised an eyebrow at that. “So if I, say, detransformed right here in front of you now, you won’t care?”

“I certainly won’t, seeing as I won’t remember in an hour.”

He had already released his transformation before she finished speaking. She gave him a glance, seeing who it was. They looked familiar, and-

It took her about two seconds to process who it was.

And it took her 0.157 seconds to shriek.

_ My crush is in my room and madly in love with me. I’m who he was talking about as the girl he loved. I- _

“Marinette!” she heard her mother’s concerned voice drift up the stairs. “Are you alright?”

“Y...yeah!” Marinette shakily responded. “J-just startled by a cat that came into my room. Don’t worry, I’m fine and can take care of it myself.”

Fortunately, that seemed to work for her parents.

She turned back to Chat-  _ no, Adrien- _ who was smirking at her. “Did I startle you?”

“More like I freaked out because the boy I love turned out to be the boy who loves me,” Marinette defended.

Then she clapped her hands over her mouth. Why had she said that. Well, it was no harm, she supposed, since he would forget in an hour.

Adrien blinked. “You… love me? But earlier today, you said…”

Ugh.  _ That _ again. “I know, I know. But in case you haven’t noticed, I have no confidence around you. I’m terribly insecure, and was afraid you’d think I’m a crazy stalker. Which I kinda am, but still…”

He tilted his head. “Stalker? Were you… a fangirl?”

“No no no!” Marinette shook her head vehemently. “I actually only fell in love with you after seeing how truly kind you were. After we became closer friends, I only fell more in love with you.”

Adrien smiled at her. “Marinette, you are an exceptional girl that doesn’t need to be afraid of being rejected. Even aside from being Ladybug, you are truly amazing.”

The silence went from comfortable to awkward… rather quickly. Fortunately, Adrien broke it. “So, you said we would give up all our secrets tonight. Who are Rena Rouge and Carapace?”

“Alya and Nino. They know who each other are as well.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “So you, I, Alya, Nino, and… Chloe.” Adrien chuckled. “I thought it would be more random. But no, it’s just our motley crew of friends.”

Marinette shrugged. “We  _ do _ have very different interests… though I don’t know if I’d call Chloe a  _ friend. _ ”   
“Hey! She’s get better,” Adrien defended his long-time friend. “Besides, she’s  _ nowhere _ near as bad as Lila.”

_ That _ they could agree on. And laugh together about.

Which is exactly what they did.

They kept talking, and before they knew it, their hour was up, and they both transformed, going up onto a roof as Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Ladybug took a deep breath and look at Chat. “Ready?”   
“I’ll never be ready.”

She glanced at him. “One last thing. I want to make sure you know that I love you, Kitty.”

Chat nodded. “I’ve always loved you, bugaboo.”

Ladybug took a deep breath. It was now or she’d never do it.

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I glazed over a lot of the conversation, mostly because I was tired of writing it. It's already longer than the other ones as it is, but I'll probably end up briefly going back to parts that I think would happen if it becomes relevant. Of course, they wouldn't be actual memories, because they don't have those now.  
> That's probably the saddest "Miraculous Ladybug!" ever. Besides maybe Oblivio, for the exact same reason.


	4. Bildungsroman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Operation Adrienette begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks @BFG for the idea to make them forget the statue scene. I think it really improved the story.  
> And the word... kinda worked. Minus the novel part. I didn't directly use it, but I tried to somewhat match the definition.

27.07.2019

bildungsroman

 _noun_ | BIL-doonks-roh-mahn

: a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character

Adrien’s head still hurt as he went to school the next morning.

One minute he was in his room playing the piano along with Plagg, and the next thing he knew he was on a rooftop next to Ladybug. Evidently, she didn’t remember anything since early that afternoon either.

And he felt like he was missing something very, very important.

He looked up as Marinette walked into the room. Adrien smiled and waved. “Hey, Marinette.”

Marinette smiled back, but almost tripped as she walked up to her seat. “H-hey, Adrien.”

Nino looked back and forth between the two of them, a nearly incredulous expression on his face. “So you two got over whatever happened in the wax museum yesterday?”

“What?”

“Wax museum?”

Adrien couldn’t pin who said which one.

“You don’t remember?” Alya inserted herself into the conversation. “Nino and I were watching Manon around the museum and Marinette was keeping Adrien company and afterwards, you were acting strange around each other.”

Adrien shook his head. “Doesn’t ring a bell at all.”

“Same,” Marinette said.

Something about the fact that Marinette couldn’t remember either was troubling. Especially with the note that he had found in his pocket as Chat Noir.

What, _exactly,_ had he forgotten?

* * *

[Operation ADRIENETTE is a GO.]

* * *

Marinette bit her lip, equally concerned and confused.

Normally, memories from an _entire afternoon_ don’t just disappear. Not to mention the fact that when her memory banks started working again, she and Chat Noir were transformed. Had there been an akuma attack? Why else would they be transformed like that?

Not to mention the most troubling point of all: Why did they forget their memories?

And… Adrien had as well. _Was he…?_ No. It could be totally unrelated. There could’ve been something else that made him forget yesterday as well.

Yeah, right.

Adrien was probably Chat Noir. Marinette could totally see it. Kind, heroic, gentlemanly… and with all the posturing he had to do as Adrien, she could see him as letting his alter ego be… well, _Chat._

But until she knew for _sure,_ Marinette would give it the benefit of the doubt. Because she couldn’t say she really _wanted_ to know who Chat Noir’s identity was. Not to mention the fact that she would feel really silly if it meant she had been rejecting _Adrien_ all those times.

Marinette took out the note that she had found in her room. Her own handwriting.

_Tell him that what you said was true._

That wasn’t the only one. But all the other notes were sealed and told to only open in a certain order, after certain things happened. The events of which were _very_ confusing.

For this one, she was lost. But after hearing about the wax museum… could it have anything to do with that. Did “him” mean _Adrien?_ Did she confess to Adrien and then deny it really being a confession?

Maybe Adrien was embarrassed by it, and wanted to pretend that it never happened, so he conveniently “forgot” the whole trip. For all Marinette _really_ knew, they had both agreed to ignore… whatever it was that had happened.

That seemed _far_ more plausible than Adrien being Chat Noir.

What, _exactly,_ had she forgotten?

* * *

[Operation ADRIENETTE is… DELAYED.]

[Due to unforeseen participant data loss.]

[READJUSTMENT required.]

* * *

Adrien was still confused.

The notes… it seemed as though he had _known_ he would lose his memory, and was prepared for it.

_She’s not just a friend. What she said yesterday was true._

Adrien was on pretty friendly terms with the whole class, but the only girls he would call outright _friends_ were Marinette, Kagami, Alya, and Chloe.

And Chloe was debatable.

Kagami… he had tried, but just couldn’t like her enough.

Out of the other two, the only one that Adrien could see as being the _more_ than a friend that the note implied was… well, Marinette.

But _why_ would the note say that? And _what_ had she said yesterday?

Of course, it wasn’t an… unappealing idea. Having Marinette as _more than a friend._ The only problem was, as always, Ladybug.

But, after so long, she _kept_ rejecting his advances. It was growing tiresome again. He had tried moving on once before, but unlike Kagami, Adrien thought that he could fall for Marinette.

Adrien would at least give her enough of the benefit of the doubt. One date couldn’t hurt, could it?

Especially since it was time to move on from Ladybug.

* * *

[Operation READJUSTED.]

[Operation ADRIENETTE is a GO.]

[Full speed ahead.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think? Is Adrien giving up on Ladybug enough of a moral or psychological growth?  
> I won't be posting tomorrow, but I may still do the word for tomorrow, just posting on Monday. See you then!


	5. Evince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien tries to ask Marinette out. It doesn't go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yesterday's word was perfect, and I HAD to use it. It's a bit short, because I have to do a lot of stuff that I've been procrastinating. I haven't seen the word for today yet, either, so it isn't affected by that, either.

28.07.2019

evince

_ verb  _ | ih-VINSS

1 : to constitute outward evidence of

2 : to display clearly : reveal

Marinette’s thoughts were still consumed with Adrien- and not for the usual reason- when he approached her at lunch.

That in and of itself was strange. He almost _always_ went home for lunch, but he could have asked to stay behind, she supposed. Marinette would have wondered why he was approaching her rather than Nino, except that Nino and Alya were… _*ahem*_ _enjoying each other’s company._

Which was why Marinette was alone as well. She looked up at him as he sat down and smiled. “Hey, Adrien,” she greeted. Marinette started picking at her food, because she was too nervous to eat around her crush.

Adrien picked up a utensil, held it for a moment, then put it back down. Several times. Poor boy looked like he was too nervous to eat as well. He finally mustered the courage to speak. “Uh, Marinette… I really wonder what happened yesterday, because you’ve made me lose my mind.”

All Marinette could do was  _ stare _ at him, and not the usual way of dreamily appreciating his looks. Was that some sort of cheesy pick up line? It was absolutely relevant to the situation they were in at the moment, but… it was totally unlike Adrien, especially since he had shown no romantic interest in her before now.

He seemed to freak out at her total lack of a response, and started again. “I mean, not in a bad way. I’m just saying… I’m  _ feline _ a connection between us and-”

That was it. The first one was unlikely but…  _ pawsible. _ But the one that included a cat pun paired with her earlier suspicions…

Well, there was no denying it now. “Kitty. Stop it.”

Adrien looked undeniably confused. “How did you…” He cut off and his eyes widened in realization. “M’lady! I’m so sorry, I-”

This was bad. What should they do? Was there anyway to-

Both Adrien’s rambling and Marinette’s thoughts were cut off by a groan. “The point of taking away your memories was so you two wouldn’t remember who the other was!”

Wait. Was that…  _ Tikki? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The illusion would've lasted longer if their memory gaps weren't brought to light in class. Oh well. And I'm back to not knowing what's going to happen next.


	6. Addlepated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Start to talk. I guess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a day late. Even though I wasn't actually working on what I was supposed to be working on.  
> And then we'll see what the word for tomorrow is before continuing it, because the one for TODAY is the first one that I am officially skipping.

29.07.2019

addlepated

_ adjective  _ | AD-ul-pay-tud

1 : being mixed up : confused

2 : eccentric

This was all happening too fast.

Apparently, Marinette was Ladybug and his puns gave himself away. Not to mention, her kwami had come out and told them something that was… very confusing.

It left Adrien addlepated.

“What do you  _ mean… _ taking away our memories?” Marinette asked, recovering a bit before him.

Granted, she didn’t have to recover from realizing that the love of her life had been sitting right behind her in class for the past year or so, like he did.

Tikki seemed to realize that floating a foot above the table in a crowded cafeteria wasn’t such a good idea after all. She hovered lower. “I think we should have this conversation later. In  _ private. _ ”

Marinette gave her kwami a furtive glance as it disappeared back into her purse. She looked up at Adrien. “So, is  _ your _ kwami so… terse? I’ve met him before, and he doesn’t seem to be, but I don’t interact with him regularly.”

Adrien snorted.  _ Plagg? Terse?  _ “Meet him yourself. Not exactly… strict. At all.”

He jabbed at his overshirt, forcing Plagg out. “Ow. Ow. What’s a kwami got to do to take a nap around…?” Plagg trailed off as soon as he saw Marinette looking straight at him. “Oh. Oh.  _ Ohh. _ So you two know. Guess that last night didn’t work.” He snickered. “Unless you want me to destroy all of Tikki’s hard work. But that is a topic for later. I’ll follow Tikki’s lead.”

Marinette frowned as he retreated back into Adrien’s shirt. “He really is… something. And he’s like that all the time?”

Adrien nodded somberly. “Such is the unlucky life of a superhero.”

Marinette blinked. “Oh gosh. You really  _ are _ Chat, aren’t you?”

He nodded, then smirked. “And  _ you, _ M’lady, have been holding out on me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted more Plagg, but they were in an awkward situation for kwamis to be around, and I wanted to actually post this today. Even though I only worked on it for like, ten minutes.  
> I'm thinking next chapter will wrap up school, and the one after that we'll actually get to see something more productive happen.  
> NEXT UP: Weredad comes back to haunt Marinette.  
> Hehehehe.


	7. Importune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien teases Marinette about her crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm falling back into a rhythm...  
> Once I read the comments at night, I have enough motivation to write the next chapter.

31.07.2019

importune

_ verb  _ | im-per-TOON

1 a : to press or urge with troublesome persistence

b :  _ archaic  _ to request or beg for urgently

2 : annoy, trouble

“And  _ you, _ M’lady, have been holding out on me.”

Marinette was still trying to soak in the fact that Adrien was Chat Noir. What was he saying, now? “What?”   
He kept that smug look on his face. “As Ladybug, you always rejected Chat Noir’s advances. But you confessed your love to me as Marinette. I always  _ knew _ my flirting worked on you.”

Marinette put her head in her hands, trying  _ very hard  _ to suppress a groan. “That? Are you freaking kidding me?”

“I knew my animal magnetism always worked like a charm.”

When she rose her head enough to glare at him, Adrien grinned cockily at her and waggled his eyebrows, looking every bit like Chat Noir. Marinette took a deep breath. “I thought that I told you that I didn’t actually love you after that whole thing.”

Adrien’s face fell at that. “... You didn’t?”

She shook her head. “No. I was already in love with the sweetest, kindest boy who sat right in front of me at school every day.”

Marinette was so frustrated that it took her a solid two seconds before she realized  _ what _ , exactly, she had said. She didn’t waste another second before clapping her hand over her mouth. “ _ Please _ tell me that I didn’t say that aloud.”

Adrien was recovering from his own shock, too. His mouth was still just oh-so-slightly parted and closed to swallow. Finally, he spoke.

“I heard you loud and clear.” Adrien hesitated before speaking again. “But… did you really mean it?”

Timidly, hands still covering her lips, Marinette nodded.

Adrien’s face broke into a grin. “Then I have my own confession to make.”

He pulled her hands away from her mouth and leaned forward until his lips met her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adrien was being annoyingly persistent enough about her supposed confession to Chat to fit the definition, right?  
> If you didn't see that coming, neither did I. Honestly, I didn't realize what was going to happen until I wrote it.  
> This is SO unlike any other fic I've written, where I've had a plan from the beginning. But it's also been a lot of fun. My only concern is knowing when to end it.  
> (Not yet... I'm thinking that bare minimum, I'll need three more chapters to wrap this up.)


	8. Luftmensch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plagg is... Plagg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I saw the word and... inspiration struck. The word is absolutely talking about Plagg. He really is a luftmensch.

01.08.2019

luftmensch

_ noun  _ | LOOFT-mensh (the”OO” is as in “foot”)

: an impractical contemplative person having no definitive business or income

Plagg was having the time of his life watching this show.

He had originally planned on going back to sleep, but this was so much more enjoyable. Both his and Tikki’s holders were freaking out about what the other thought of them.

Even after the kiss- which should have made things obvious- they still managed to freak out. Granted, that may have been partially due to the fact that everyone else in their class saw it and started to get involved, but it was still hilarious.

Plagg was having a hard time suppressing his laughter, to say the least.

So it was almost a relief when Adrien got to bakery girl’s room. Plagg fell out of Adrien’s pocket, cackling. “That was hilarious. Watching you two trying to figure out what to do about each other. It was so entertaining that I almost didn’t even eat any cheese.”

“Plagg!” Tikki yelled at him. “They’ve just been nervous. They found out that their love is returned and are uncertain how to proceed. Have some respect.”

Plagg rolled his eyes. Tikki was a killjoy. And a sap. He turned to Tikki’s holder instead. “Hey, pigtails. Got any cheese? Camembert is preferred, but any will do.”

“You have Camembert in my bag, Plagg. Stop trying to get some out of Marinette,” Adrien scolded.

“I believe you mean  _ had, _ as in the past tense,” Plagg corrected, earning a glare from Adrien. “What? I needed some snacks to go along with the show.”

The bakery girl- Marinette?- giggled. What, did she think this was  _ cute? _ That would be terrible if she did. “I don’t think I have Camembert, but I’ll see what I’ve got.” She headed out of the room, presumably to fetch it.

Leaving Plagg to Adrien and Tikki’s wrath. Both were staring daggers at him.

“Plagg, you don’t just go into other people’s houses and demand cheese,” Tikki berated.

“No, that’s what  _ you _ do, Tikki. I have no problem with that, as I just demonstrated.”

She was about to respond when bakery girl popped her head in. “Hope Gouda’s okay.”

“It’s more than Gouda,” Plagg said, then dove right into it.

He didn’t really pay much attention to the conversation the two humans had with Tikki. From what he picked up, however, it sounded like Tikki was trying to explain what happened during their memory malfunction.

But who cared about that when there was  _ sweet, gooey cheese right in front of him? _

“PLAGG!”

He turned around, clutching the last piece of Gouda there was left. “What is it?”

Tikki looked more than done with him. “Do you think you could destroy the blocks I put on their memories?”

Plagg popped the last piece of cheese into his mouth. “Sure. My schedule just cleared up, so it’s not like I have anything better to do now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the memory problem would have some very precise, physical elements, considering neurons in the brain and whatnot. Since Tikki can't destroy anything, only create, I'm not exactly sure what would happen, but it would like create paths blocking or avoiding the memories or something. Theoretically, Plagg could destroy those, although he would need to be much more precise than he has in the past.


	9. Clarion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette objects.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... didn't know what I was going to do for this word. I got a bit of an idea though... which is good because now I can keep the fic going.  
> The biggest problem is that I need to decide what more than a reveal I want with this.

02.08.2019

clarion

_ adjective  _ | KLAIR-ee-un

: brilliantly clear:  _ also  _ : loud and clear

“NO!”

Adrien and turned to Marinette. “What?”

She took a deep breath, staring at Plagg. “I was there at the Eiffel Tower during Style Queen, and  _ I  _ was conscious for it. I don’t think I trust you to be… precise enough for this.”

“You’ve got a point there,” Plagg conceded.

Adrien was very confused. “Wait. What exactly  _ did _ happen at the Eiffel Tower during Style Queen?”

“Your kwami there destroyed about… half of Paris.”

Oh.  _ Yeah. _ “Okay. Now it’s obvious why you hesitated.”

Marinette nodded, and turned back to her kwami. “I’m sorry Tikki, but surely you can think of some other way for us to get our memories back?”

Tikki looked nervous. “Well, I suppose-”

Suddenly, there was a crash outside.

Adrien’s and Marinette’s eyes met again. Looks like they would have to postpone their discussion again for the akuma attack.

It was clear what to do next.

“Spots on.”

“Claws out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...and there end our days of Hawkmoth actually being kept away. Even though this is only the second day in the actual story.
> 
> In other notes, I have no idea how often I will actually be able to post from now on. I am going on a trip and will be gone tomorrow, and then I'm starting school next Monday, meaning that my schedule will be WAY more busy. I'll do my best to update it on a daily basis, but I can't say for sure.


	10. Aggregate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Resolution.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... it's been a while since I've posted. Like, a week.  
> I blame school for being stupid.  
> And myself for procrastinating.  
> It didn't help that when I was avoiding homework, it was just reading fanfiction, rather than writing it.  
> So without further ado, here's the last chapter!

08.08.2019

aggregate

_ noun  _ | AG-rih-gut

1 : a mass or body of units or parts somewhat loosely associated with one another

2 : the whole sum or amount : sum total

Some days, there were difficult akumas. New and tricky, obviously on days where Hawkmoth had more emotions to work with, and was better able to harness them into powers that were challenging for Ladybug and Chat Noir to fight.

And then there were days where he simply reakumatized Mr. Pigeon, and it took less than a minute to defeat him.

Today was one of those days.

“Again?” Mr. Ramier said, dismayed upon discovering that he had yet again been akumatized. “I really tried to connect to rats, and I have been, but then I realized that pigeons are rats of the sky, and couldn’t get rid of that attachment, and when I saw them being treated poorly…”

Ladybug made sure to smile at him fondly. “Don’t worry. As long as you’re trying, that’s the best you can do. The fault really belongs to Hawkmoth. Have a nice day, Mr. Ramier.”

“Do you have time again? I could treat you to ice cream again.”

She shared a look with Chat, giving a curt shake of her head. Fortunately, her partner caught on. “As amazing as that sounds, I’m afraid we both have something else to do right now.”

It was nice that Mr. Ramier accepted it so easily. There were some…  _ other _ civilians she knew ( _ Chloe _ ) that wouldn’t take a refusal so easily. But now that he was taken care, Ladybug and Chat could finish their talk.

* * *

Once they got back to Marinette’s room and detransformed, she asked the kwamis to let her talk to Adrien just by herself.

Adrien would be lying if he said that his heart didn’t jump excitedly at that.

After Tikki and Plagg zipped off to the balcony, only leaving himself besides her to wait in anticipation for what she would say.

Finally, Marinette took a deep breath. “I know that we didn’t really get much of a chance to talk about it, but I personally don’t really care about what we forgot.”

Adrien nodded in agreement. “It seems to me that the most important thing that happened, we already figured out. And I think that we can live without knowing the rest.”

“Exactly.” Marinette smiled at him.

“Though,” he continued. “I just want to make sure of one thing. I’m okay without the memories, but I’m not okay without  _ you. _ I think it was obvious, but to make it official, will you be my girlfriend, Marinette?”

She brought a hand to her mouth, though it did little to stop her squeak or hide her blush. “YES! Yesyesyesyesyes I will!”

He couldn’t help but snicker at her reaction. “Wow. You’re eager about that. So, while we’re at it, do you suppose you could ask Ladybug if she’d be interested in dating Chat Noir? He-”

Suddenly, Marinette got up on her tiptoes and pulled him down enough so that  _ she _ could kiss  _ him. _ Once she pulled away, they were both breathless, and Adrien was sure that he had a face red enough to match hers, plus a lovestruck grin.

“Silly Kitty. Shut up.”

Adrien shook his head to recover just enough of his wit to make another comment. “If  _ that’s  _ how you’re going to shut me up, I think that I’m going to start talking a lot mo-”

Marinette had leaned forward to make Adrien  _ shut up _ again. Though it would do nothing to dissuade him from talking in the future, perhaps only encouraging it.

But she was absolutely right, earlier. They didn’t need memories. They completed each other better than memories ever could.

So, come what may, whether it involved those memories or not, it would be fine.

Because they could face it.

Together.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (If it wasn't obvious, the "aggregate" part of it was supposed to be the fact that they would face whatever together at the end.)  
> This challenge was a lot of fun, and I'd love to do something like it again. I would have loved to extend this story, except that my life is a bit too busy at the moment. So, to avoid feeling guilty about not posting anymore, I wrapped it up. (I dislike how rushed the ending was, but hey, I've seen actual TV shows with worse endings.)  
> I'll be focused on posting my Adrien AUGreste piece for this month, The Feathery Lineup.  
> BUT- I someday want to do something like this again. If anyone's interested, let me know, including any ideas that they'd like to see tried out in the next one (because I've got zilch to adapt to this one- all my fanfic ideas are taken up by other projects).  
> Anyways, thank you for reading this!

**Author's Note:**

> There is no guarantee that I will post everyday. I probably won't post on Sunday, just because.  
> Otherwise it mostly depends on how busy I am at the time, and maybe partially how well the word fits. Though when I DO post, it will be for the word of THAT day.


End file.
